Good news for all you fans of Google Translate! It is now becoming a much for functional app, thanks to two new features that will revolutionize the way it is used.

This morning, Google announced what they had been promising for awhile: changes that would make Google Translate a more viable tool for people who want a real conversation outside of their spoken language.

Using either either iOS or Android version, you can now use real time translation to speak with anyone from English to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French or Russian.

This is a feature that has been seen in apps before. But those tools have been notoriously unreliable and inaccurate, an unfortunate fact that will hopefully be rectified with Google’s attempt at the technology. Given the skill of the people who work for the company, and the money they have to develop it, it seems likely the app will be a lot better.

In addition to this upgrade, there is one other. When in a region that doesn’t have internet access, or any time you have a sign or text you need to read, you can translate either in offline mode.

Just take a photo of the words, run it through Google Translate, and it will give you the closest translation in the database. All without needing to connect with a signal. It isn’t perfect, but it allows for a secondary form of communication, if necessary.

For example, if you are in an area without internet, but you really need to speak to someone, you can each write things down, take a photo, and translate. Not a great system, but OK for emergencies.

I use Google Translate a fair amount. I have clients who don’t speak English well, and I usually don’t speak their native tongue. It means a lot of mix ups. If they can give me the word they are struggling with in their language, I can usually discern the meaning based on context.

Having an upgrade that makes Google Translate better, and more reliable? That is good news for me, and anyone else that interacts on a regular basis with others in varying languages.

Fingers crossed they expand the database to include other languages soon. I can think of a handful that would be helpful.